Warehouse District & Center City

Cochon fills a niche that, in New Orleans, went begging for attention for decades. Inspired by the many small butcher shops found throughout in Cajun country (but rare in the New Orleans area), it cures and smokes its own meats and sausages. With that resource Cochon creates a unique menu. It's related to but different from barbecue. This is home-style Cajun cooking, but the kind made from smoky-cured meats. There are seafood dishes, but they're in the minority on the menu. The result is convincingly Cajun and distinctive, if not memorable.

Marigny

On the top edge of the Marigny Triangle lies a delicious and slightly unexpected Italian restaurant with a light heart--to judge by the pun-laden descriptions of the many fresh pastas and ingredients to toss it with. It harbors a small array of salads and appetizers, but the focus is on the sizable portions of pasta. I’m in a pasta-hungry stage lately, and I've been hooked by Arabella since the place opened. The staff is happily involved in serving your pick from the myriad possibilities that come about with seven pasta shapes (one of them gluten-free), six sauces, and seven miscellaneous toppings.

Mandeville